ArticleInfection and immunity2008
Phagocytosis of Borrelia burgdorferi, the Lyme disease spirochete, potentiates innate immune activation and induces apoptosis in human monocytes.
Article in Infection and immunity, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 74 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
74 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 109 citations in OpenAlex.
- Cutaneous Lyme borreliosis: Guideline of the German Dermatology Society.German medical science : GMS e-journal · 2025Guideline
- Cutaneous Lyme borreliosis: Guideline of the German Dermatology Society.German medical science : GMS e-journal · 2017Guideline
- Human TLR8 is activated upon recognition of Borrelia burgdorferi RNA in the phagosome of human monocytes.Journal of leukocyte biology · 2013Trial
- Comparative evaluation of viability assays and functional analysis ofApplied and environmental microbiology · 2026Article
- Innate immune responses tomBio · 2026Article
- Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato Employs Several Escape Mechanisms to Bypass the Human Defense System.European journal of immunology · 2026Review
- Strain-specific immune response patterns toInfection and immunity · 2026Article
- Characterizing the impact of intracutaneous dissemination on host responses duringFrontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- Article
- Aspects of the Immunopathogenesis of Lyme Arthritis.Microorganisms · 2025Review
- Assessment of the hypothetical protein BB0616 in the murine infection ofInfection and immunity · 2024Article
- Modulation of Macrophage Redox and Apoptotic Processes toPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Borrelia burgdorferi Engages Mammalian Type I IFN Responses via the cGAS-STING Pathway.Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950) · 2023Article
- Lyme disease and the pursuit of a clinical cure.Frontiers in medicine · 2023Review
- Inhibition ofInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2022Article
- Borrelia burgdorferi Is a Poor Inducer of Gamma Interferon: Amplification Induced by Interleukin-12.Infection and immunity · 2022Article
- Challenges for the development of a universal vaccine against leptospirosis revealed by the evaluation of 22 vaccine candidates.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2022Article
- A diagnostic classifier for gene expression-based identification of early Lyme disease.Communications medicine · 2022Article
- Article
- Ceftriaxone and Doxycycline induced Seroconversion in Previously Seronegative Patient with Clinically Suspected Disseminated Lyme Disease: Case Report.Infection & chemotherapy · 2021Article
14 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
We have previously demonstrated that phagocytosed Borrelia burgdorferi induces activation programs in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells that differ qualitatively and quantitatively from those evoked by equivalent lipoprotein-rich lysates. Here we report that ingested B. burgdorferi induces significantly greater transcription of proinflammatory cytokine genes than do lysates and that live B. burgdorferi, but not B. burgdorferi lysate, is avidly internalized by monocytes, where the bacteria are completely degraded within phagolysosomes. In the course of these experiments, we discovered that live B. burgdorferi also induced a dose-dependent decrease in monocytes but not a decrease in dendritic cells or T cells and that the monocyte population displayed morphological and biochemical hallmarks of apoptosis. Particularly noteworthy was the finding that apoptotic changes occurred predominantly in monocytes that had internalized spirochetes. Abrogation of phagocytosis with cytochalasin D prevented the death response. Heat-killed B. burgdorferi, which was internalized as well as live organisms, induced a similar degree of apoptosis of monocytes but markedly less cytokine production. Surprisingly, opsonophagocytosis of Treponema pallidum did not elicit a discernible cell death response. Our combined results demonstrate that B. burgdorferi confined to phagolysosomes is a potent inducer of cytosolic signals that result in (i) production of NF-kappaB-dependent cytokines, (ii) assembly of the inflammasome and activation of caspase-1, and (iii) induction of programmed cell death. We propose that inflammation and apoptosis represent mutually reinforcing components of the immunologic arsenal that the host mobilizes to defend itself against infection with Lyme disease spirochetes.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.